An Ostrich-Plumed Hat: Chapter Fifty-Two

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Above, Galveston and Texas History Center, Rosenberg Library

an ostrich-plumed hat

Begin with Chapter One ~ Return to Chapter Fifty-One

Former Governor Thomas Mitchell Campbell, September 1913

The original campus of Trinity University at Tehuacana

“Governor,” says his son-in-law Clarence, “you hit the ball out of the park this afternoon. You left the crowd at the Cotton Carnival clamoring for more. The senatorial bee was buzzing in all of Galveston’s bonnets.”

“It felt good to be up there on the stage to counter the chicanery and political pecksniffery of the Colquitt machine. And the hoots of support from the old Tehuacana boys in the audience lifted my spirits. I never go anywhere in the state without bumping into fellow alumni from Trinity. If I had attended one of those uppity eastern universities, I doubt I could’ve been elected. The enthusiasm of the old Tehuacana boys carried me through the convention.

Continue reading “An Ostrich-Plumed Hat: Chapter Fifty-Two” →

Who was the ‘Barton’ of the springs?

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barton springs 1882

Above, “Barton Springs,” A.M. Ramsey, 1882 oil painting, Austin History Center, Portal to Texas History

…”waters are as transparent as glass. Small objects can be seen at the bottom, 15 or 20 feet below the surface. The flow never changes. Prolonged rains, over a wide extent of the country, do not increase their volume, nor do the severest drouths diminish it.”

Frank Brown writing in Annals of Travis County and the City of Austin, (From the Earliest Times to the Close of 1875), Collection of Travis County Historical Commission, Portal to Texas History

New zipcode for this blogger. Jumped from 78204 to 78704, which means a whole batch of historical tidbits to master in order to understand home in South Austin. With an address on Barton Springs Road, finding out about Barton seems a good place to start.

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An Ostrich-Plumed Hat: Chapter Fifty-One

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Above, San Antonio Express, August 23, 1913

an ostrich-plumed hat

Begin with Chapter One ~ Return to Chapter Fifty

Dr. Ferdinand Peter Herff, August 1913

The bell jangles on the front door.

“Missus Hatzenbuehler?” A voice calls out. “Hilda, are you ready?

Peter rises from his desk and unlatches the door.

“Oh, I apologize for disturbing you, Doctor Herff,” says Hedda. “Missus Hatzenbuehler said you would be out this afternoon. We were hoping to see the Edison Talking Pictures at the Grand tonight. Amazing. He takes words—words we can hear—and makes them appear to emerge from someone’s mouth on the screen. It sounds so much more exciting than viewing Little Mary Pickford in In the Bishop’s Carriage.”

“It’s quite alright, Miss Burgemeister. I was supposed to be away from the office. Missus Hatzenbuehler went home to prepare dinner for her husband. Please have a seat. She should return shortly. Missus Hatzenbuehler’s as excited as you are over witnessing Mister Edison’s newest achievement. 

“Instead of one of man’s great accomplishments, I, on the other hand, witnessed one of his basest deeds. I’m supposed to be a protector of life, yet I was called upon to oversee an execution. And I wasn’t alone.”

Continue reading “An Ostrich-Plumed Hat: Chapter Fifty-One” →